Gergely Karácsony's lie, the supplementary pension increase announced by the prime minister, migration issues, the approval of Sweden's application for NATO membership, Ukraine's ingratitude, the Balkan gunpowder barrel, the renewal of the price watcher and many other issues were discussed in Government Info.
- The government decided on the supplementary pension increase, the details of which were already announced by Viktor Orbán - began Thursday's Government Information Officer Gergely Gulyás. The pension correction means that a 3.1 percent increase must be added to the previous 15 percent increase, as pensioner inflation was higher than expected at the beginning of the year by that much - explained Gergely Gulyás in more detail. The minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office indicated: in the case of an average pension, the increase announced by the Prime Minister means a monthly increase of HUF 6,532, so the average pension rises to HUF 217,000.
So in November, pensioners can count on a half-monthly surplus of HUF 78,000, as they will receive the annual amount retroactively at the same time.
- For the budget, this represents an expenditure of nearly 200 billion forints - Gergely Gulyás added. On an annual level, the elderly receive 85,000 more, and the government can also express its high regard for pensioners.
With the change in the German attitude, the questioning of the migration pact also decreased. - Negotiations on the implementation of the pact at the EU leadership level must continue as a result of the chancellor's decision - Gergely Gulyás indicated the direction of the negotiations.
The minister said that the refugees are becoming more and more aggressive, and in recent days there have been armed clashes between them on the Serbian side of the border.
- The Hungarian government does not want to suffer the fate of Lampedusa, it does not plan to create migrant ghettos in the territory of the country - stated Gulyás.
He added: Negotiations on migration policy are still ongoing in Brussels, at which Bence Rétvári, the deputy minister of the interior, represents Hungary.
Gergely Gulyás said that the European Commission is delaying the teachers' salary increase, which also affects health improvements and Erasmus scholarships.
"The delay on the part of the European Commission can be called embarrassing and absurd, their questions are ridiculous, it is obvious that EU funds cannot be withheld because Brussels does not know exactly how many rooms the National Judicial Council has. The government hopes that the commission did not spend the money elsewhere, possibly outside the EU. And they mainly hope that in Brussels, no one believes that the teachers steal their own wages, or the students their own scholarships", Gergely Gulyás explained the government's position.
Alexandra Szentkirályi announced that the new function of the online price monitor, the shop filter with a map, was launched today. As a result of this innovation, shoppers can "filter" the low prices of stores near them.
The government spokesperson said that the prices of 52 out of 62 product categories have decreased.
In most cases, you can count on an average reduction of 10, but in some cases 25 percent per product.
As he said, 986 stores have been inspected so far and HUF 97,650,000 in fines have been imposed in the case of mandatory promotions. There are very few cases of abuse of the price monitor: they looked at 350 stores and found complaints in only seven stores.
Regarding the donation boxes of the 99 Movement, the head of the ministry pointed out that we are facing an obvious setback. As he said, the statement made by Gergely Karácsony was proven to be a lie.
"The chance of the mayor winning a lottery ticket every week is much higher than the chance of the mayor collecting thousands of euros, the numbers of which follow each other flawlessly. Karácsony tried to deceive the public, and he doesn't even give a tangible answer to what happened," said Gergely Gulyás, referring to the fact that there has been no Budapestinfo for years, and that even the left-wing media are waiting for Gergely Karácsony's answers in the embarrassing case.
To the suggestion that the Gyurcsánys are preparing to govern again, Gergely Gulyás said: the Hungarian left has anti-democratic traditions, but he hopes that this does not mean that he wants to come to power without winning the election.
The government considers the formation of the Dobrev government to be a serious danger and risk, because if we look back at the short three and a half decades of Hungarian democracy, the country's worst, most unsuccessful and most corrupt period was the Gyurcsány era. - That is why it would not be good if this government returned in any form - indicated Gergely Gulyás.
When asked what he thought about the performance of the Momentum president in the parliament, he responded: the same as him. "I agree with the qualification, but we don't usually talk like that," he remarked.
It also turned out that the sovereignty protection bill will be submitted in the fall, the most important element of which is to make it impossible for a party or organization that nominates a candidate in the election to receive support from abroad.
- Hungary's goal of maintaining the best possible relationship with the United States, as its important ally, has not changed - Gergely Gulyás said, adding that American companies operating in the country employ a lot of people.
According to Gergely Gulyás, there is a problem on the part of the American government, because ideology determines the conditions of cooperation in the field of politics. Since the Hungarian government is ideologically different, the American Democratic Party makes cooperation difficult.
Gergely Gulyás said that there are several forms of support for Ukraine, and Hungary does this in a humanitarian way.
But no country outside the EU can receive EU funds until all EU member states have received the money they are rightfully entitled to.
They want to save Dunaferr by changing the law to avoid environmental fines. However, this will not apply to battery factories, only metallurgical plants will be able to avoid environmental fines. This amendment is necessary in order to "save Dunaferr".
The government has not yet decided on the final details of csok+, the government's goal is to provide the most support to families who want a new home and are about to expand, with a low interest rate.
According to the emerging new system, not only will it be possible to buy new real estate from the increased amount, but the proposal is still being finalized, the government will decide that the new home creation program can come into effect from January 1, 2024.
- You won't be able to buy firewood at official prices this year, but there will be a social firewood program - predicted Gergely Gulyás.
The government is dealing with rising domestic fuel prices. So far, there is no specific provision on when the fuel price cap would be reintroduced.
- Mayor András Pikó committed multiple violations of the law, he stated untruths in the case of the Káptalanfüred children's camp - indicated Gergely Gulyás in response to a journalist's question. ATV asked the minister what he thought about the political war raging in Józsefváros. According to the minister's assessment, the former right-wing local government had a plan to make a serious investment in children's camps, within the framework of which it would completely renovate a camp.
- A total of HUF 3.2 billion would have been available for this, the first phase of the investment was realized, after which the money remained for the second phase, but none of it was implemented by the left-wing local government that took office in the meantime - Gergely Gulyás outlined the situation.
The minister explained: Due to the abandoned project, the renovated part of the camp is rotting, and the mayor, who is also spreading lies, does not provide children living in the district with the opportunity to camp. - The framework contract between two private companies was for HUF 96 million, of which HUF 12 million was paid - said Gergely Gulyás regarding the amounts included in the accusations of Mayor András Pikó.
"I think the Polish government thinks that the Ukrainian government is ungrateful," said Gulyás to another question. He added: the Poles gave all support to the Ukrainians, even sent weapons, and were the biggest messengers in the world that Ukraine should be helped with everything, even weapons. "After this, what they are forced to suffer, if I were a Pole, I would also consider it unworthy," he remarked.
In response to a question, Gergely Gulyás believed that ethnic tensions in the Balkans have often led to armed wars.
In the case of Kosovo, it may still be necessary to station peacekeepers in the longer term.
In response to a question from Gulyás, he said that the government does not plan to introduce the euro, because it would eliminate the possibility of an independent monetary policy. Currently, the government is not dealing with this issue. The government concludes from the behavior of the Swedes that joining NATO is not really important to them. According to the minister, the Swedes did everything they could to destroy basic trust and respect from Hungary.
Gergely Gulyás confirmed that next year's debt will be burdened by the payment of inflation-tracking government bond yields, but the positive thing is that these amounts will be paid back home, to Hungarians.
According to Gulyás, the negotiations about the airport are going well, and as soon as they reach an agreement, they will report on it. As he said, they "can bet" that the airport will become majority owned by the Hungarian state.
